464 ’-CHRISTIAN SCIENCE" IN GERMANY.

which caused the mischief were said to smell like Indian or

China ink ; they were blackened with a composition con-taining a large proportion (90 per cent.) of ordinary aniline,which served as a vehicle for the black colouring agent. Dr.

Landouzy and Dr. Brouardel found that aniline applied to Ithe shaved skin of guinea-pigs and rabbits kept in a warmplace produced illness in from three to four hours and deathin from 24 to 36 hours.

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"CHRISTIAN SCIENCE" IN GERMANY.

THE German Emperor is stated to have no intention of

allowing the mischievous and crack-brained disciples of

Mrs. Eddy to have an opportunity of spreading their doctrinesin the Fatherland. It will be interesting to see what stepsthe German authorities will be able to take in the matter,for while it is the duty of a Government to watch over thehealth of the people it cannot possibly be the provinceof any Government to decide what is and what is not correctmedical treatment. It may be said that such a manifest

absurdity as the theory of Christian science cannot possiblypretend to be a system of therapeutics ; but, unfortunately,that is just what it does pretend to be. The German

Emperor will earn the gratitude of English and Americanlegislators if he can devise a plan which will stop these sillypersons from playing with the lives of their fellow-creaturesand which will at the same time give no chance to refractorypersons to say that the freedom of the individual is beingunduly curtailed. -

A BILL FOR THE BETTER PROTECTION OFCHILDREN.

WE are informed that a Bill to amend the Act for the Pre-vention of Cruelty to Children will shortly be introduced into Ithe House of Lords. It proposes to restrict the workinghours of children employed in domestic work and to

prevent their being brought up as tramps. It wouldalso make it illegal to endanger the lives of youngchildren by overlying, by leaving them alone in rooms

with an unprotected fire, and by having them carriedabout by drunken persons, and would seek to protect theirmoral character by prohibiting promiscuous sleeping arrange-ments. It may be said that much of the ground occupiedby these amendments is covered by the general term" neglect " for which provision is made by the original Act.There can be no reasonable doubt that such is the case with

.regard to many so-called accidents due to burning and tooverlying. Nor is the case of a child committed to the armsof an incapable drunkard essentially different. It is from

our point of view hardly conceivable that a magistrateshould be able under these circumstances to interpret theimplied neglect as other than a punishable offence. Never-

theless, we should be most unwilling to lose any force derivablefrom detailed and exact definition which may be needfulto strengthen the hands of magistrates in dealing with suchoccurrences. As regards the regulation of domestic arrange-ments we are of opinion that makers of law should walk

warily. Questions arising in this connexion are best settledout of court as far as may be possible. When there is proofof oppression, or cruelty, or a public nuisance, we naturally.look to the law for justice and reparation. Where we haveto do with errors of judgment in respect of such matters asTiousehold occupations or decency we cannot shut our eyestu the help which can be derived from education or from the- mure delicate, subtle, and powerful influence of religion. It

will be for those who have to discuss and to vote upon thisBill to say how far the evils with which it deals are real

,and how much they are to allow to one or the other

or to all of these forces in seeking their removal. There is a

.related subject which we greatly desire to see taken up byEthe legislature with more energy than it has been-that of

infant insurance. The history of this system as it is read

by the critical onlooker is marked by a degree of mortalitywhich is, at least, suggestive of widely prevalent abuse.

Here, if anywhere, we would say, is a point at which

legislation should intervene in a manner that it has not done.We have never been able to understand what pecuniaryinterest a poor parent can be considered to possess in thedeath of his young child apart from the cost of burial

expenses. As a matter of fact, the sum insured is oftenfar in excess of this moderate sum, o far that it

bears a dangerous likeness to a premium on mortality.It is to be feared that it is not infrequently so regarded byparents who have more children than they care for and thata child’s life has repeatedly gone in exchange for the

insurance money. We believe that the necessity for this

kind of insurance even amor g the poor has been over-

estimated. We are of opinion that it would be fairer to thechild, fairer to the parents, and of greater public benefit,that instead of insurance being made for a payment of moneyit should be limited to providing decent burial in the event

of death. -

LOCALISATION OF THE BACILLUS TYPHOID ATTHE SITES OF INJURIES DURING RECEIVEDTYPHOID FEVER AND AT THE SITES OF

PREVIOUSLY EXISTING LESIONS.

WE have recently referred to the fact that typhoid bacilliare usually present in the blood in cases of typhoid fever andto the value of examination of the blood for them as a

means of early diagnosis.’ Some cases described at the

meetings of the Societe Médicale des Hopitaux of Parisillustrate the ubiquity of the bacilli in cases of typhoid feverin a novel and interesting manner. At the meeting onJan. 17th M. F. Widal and M. L. Le Sourd jointlydescribed the case of a young woman,’ aged 24 years, inwhom during convalescence from a long attack of typhoidfever an abscess and three ’’ oily

" subcutaneous collections

developed in the positions of punctures made in injectinghypodermically caffeine and normal saline solution. In the

pus of the abscess which was beneath the skin of the

abdomen and in the oily collections which were situated onthe left thigh the typhoid bacillus was found. This fact is

analogous to the observation of several writers who have

found pneumococcic abscesses at the sites at which sub-

cutaneous injections of caffeine had been made in cases ofpneumonia. In the abscess the typhoid bacillus and thestaphylococcus aureus were found. In the oily collectionsthe typhoid bacillus was found in pure culture. Histo-

logical examination showed polynuclear cells mixed withsome lymphocytes. In this case the slight injury producedby the needle of the hypodermic syringe evidently localisedthe typhoid bacillus which must have been present in theblood. At the meeting of the Societe Medicale des Hôpitauxon Jan. 24th M. Widal and M. Ravaut gave examples of thelocalisation of the typhoid bacillus in the sites of lesions

existing before the occurrence of the typhoid fever. A youngwoman had chronic submaxillary tuberculous adenitis.

During convalescence from typhoid fever one of the tuber-culous glands enlarged and became red and fluctuating. Onincision pus was obtained containing the typhoid bacillus inpure culture. Cicatrisation rapidly occurred. A woman, aged34 years, had typical typhoid fever which ran the ordinarycourse until the twentieth day, but there was abdominal pain,especially on the right side. On the twenty-first day vomit-ing occurred and the abdomen became tympanitic and morepainful. The febrile symptoms persisted for three weeks.At the end of this time the abdominal pains returned in aviolent form, greenish matter was vomited, and theabdominal facies-pinched noe, hollow eyes, and leaden

1 THE LANCET, Feb. 8th, 1901, p. 390.